Fleeting
by corneroffandom
Summary: Jack returns to the States just to hear some somber news.


A/N: RIP Ashley Massaro.

Jack runs a hand down his face, squints up into the stormy sky, and sighs. He had gone home to Europe to compete in 205 Live, just to find it hot and almost aggressively sunny, not at all what one would expect, just to return back to California to find the gloom and near-cool temperatures here instead. His lips twitch, just a little, as he parks his car outside of Brian's house and leans his forehead against the steering wheel, trying to find the energy to get out of the car amongst the weight of jetlag and yet another wrestling match lost. Leaning back, he pulls his phone out and powers it on, just to read a recent twitter alert that makes him sit up straight, brows furrowing. "Oh, no."

Adrenaline pulsing through his veins now, he collects his luggage and heads towards the front door. It's so dark, the clouds overhead so overwhelming, that he almost misses the shape sitting against the porch railing, eyes scraping by quickly in his hurry to get inside, find Brian. He pauses while digging for his keys and exhales slowly, half-turning and confirming to himself that he hadn't been seeing things. "Brian," he breathes out, gazing down at the man as he stares blankly out into the yard, hugging one leg to his chest, the other propped on the step before him. His free hand is clutching something, and as Jack gingerly approaches, he examines it, and closes his eyes, a sharp sympathetic pain taking his breath away momentarily. "Brian... May I...?"

Brian nods, tense, jerky little motions of his head and neck, and Jack carefully eases down next to him. The smell of rain is thick in the air, but neither man move or say anything. Brian examines the picture and Jack examines him, quiet, pensive. When he speaks, Jack twitches, just a little, but forces himself to focus on every word. "We were... pretty young, you know?" he says, inclining his head at the picture. "None of us really knew what we were doing, or how to react to everything happening around us." He chuckles, a thick, almost ugly sound that Jack never wants to hear from him again. His eyes are tired and so, so blue when he finally looks over at Jack. "It was probably one of the best times of my life."

Jack nods and then casts a glare at the sky as a large drop of rain strikes his cheek, followed by more and more, starting to fall in earnest around them. "Brian," he says, splaying a hand over the picture in hopes of protecting it. "May I take this and put it in my luggage to keep it from getting ruined?"

"Yeah," Brian whispers, more an exhale than an actual word and Jack carefully takes the picture from him, placing it in a safe spot in his bag. Once the photo is spared from the elements, Jack scoots over and presses against Brian, quiet and solid support as he takes in the sheets of rain now pouring down around them. "You should go in, Jack," he mumbles. "There's no point in you staying out here and getting soaked and miserable."

"Will you come in with me?" he wonders, and Brian slowly shakes his head, his eyes trailing over the sheets of rain blocking their view of the world beyond, soaking his hair against his skin, his clothes heavy and a shade or two darker. "Then I will wait. Unless you want to be alone?"

Brian closes his eyes and shakes his head again with a mirthless smile before glancing back at Jack, an exhausted sort of resignation in his eyes. "I missed you." A low admission, one that makes Jack ache as much as it warms him. "I'm glad you're home."

_Home._ Jack casts a quick glance back at Brian's house before turning back to him. "I am as well," he says quietly, reaching back to dig around in his luggage. Brian glances up, then exhales a soft laugh as Jack shakes out his umbrella, giving him and Brian some cover from the downpour. "Yes, yes, I suppose I have returned, somewhat, to being the clown that you despised so much way back when."

Instead of amusing Brian, this seems to pain him and he leans forward, burying his face in his hands for a minute, digging his thumbs into his eyes before he sits back, trembling just a little. "I'm really sorry I said those things to you, Jack. I was always so awful to you. I don't blame you for throwing away how I forced you to be and... returning to the man you once were."

Jack examines him and shakes his head. Brian is a kinder teacher to Akira than he had been to Jack in their beginnings, perhaps, yes, but he fails to see that he _had_ been good for Jack- he may go back to the silliness with the umbrella, and the handstands to get out of holds, and whatever else, but at his core, the best part of Brian's lessons remain, encouraging Jack to be stronger, more determined to do whatever it takes to win. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't, but that's neither here nor there- he feels more complete a competitor just for the time he had spent learning from Brian. "You have nothing to apologize for," he says softly. "I was far from perfect either."

Brian's lips quirk upwards. "Cumberground, huh?"

Jack chuckles, a shameful noise deep in his throat. "Indeed, cumberground." It is still raining steadily before them, but neither seem in a hurry to move, Jack quietly wrapping an arm around Brian and tugging him a little closer as his umbrella continues to safeguard them from the worst of it all.

Brian eventually rests his head on Jack's shoulder, staring listlessly out at the growing puddles in the yard, along the driveway, lost in memories that Jack will probably never come close to fathoming. "Time really is so very fleeting," he finally murmurs, and Jack nods slowly, rubbing Brian's back soothingly.

"Yes. Yes, it is," he whispers, pressing a soft kiss to the side of Brian's face as they continue sitting side by side, the rain a soft, steady background to their reflections and thoughts.

"I love you," Brian says suddenly and Jack looks down at him, a faint flush covering his pale skin as he digests this. "I don't say it enough, but I do, Jack. Just... don't forget that, ok?"

Mortality is a funny thing, and facing it can be one of the most dreadful things ever. Jack nods solemnly. "I never, ever could, Brian," he says simply, cradling Brian's face with his free hand and guiding him up to softly kiss him on the lips. "I love you as well."

Some of the weight seems to lift from Brian's shoulders at this and Jack resumes holding him close, the two of them watching the rain slowly ease off until little more than a mist drenches their skin when Jack folds the umbrella back up. "Let's go in," Brian says suddenly. "You, uh... you can make tea, and there... there are more pictures if you... if you wanna look at them, I mean, you don't have to-"

Jack taps Brian's jaw, his nervous rambling easing off as he finally looks up and takes in the expression on Jack's face. "I would be honored. Come, come." He stands, reaches down and helps Brian up as well, before the two head inside, wet and a little cold.

Listening to Jack walking purposely through the kitchen, Brian hesitates in the doorway and looks over his shoulder as the clouds slowly break apart, blue sky and sun reintroducing itself to the world below little by little. "Thank you," he whispers, a small smile playing at his lips before going inside.


End file.
